Griffin Speaks

MY CONNECTION TO AVA GARDNER

In 1975, I was in the eleventh grade at Garner Senior High School in Garner, North Carolina. My English teacher was Ms. Ava Creech. Ms. Creech was the favorite niece of Hollywood Movie Star, Ava Gardner. Ms. Creech’s mother was Ava Gardner’s sister.

It was not an uncommon occurrence at Garner Senior High School for students or other personnel to answer Ms. Creech’s phone and hear a voice at the other end of the line say: “Hello Darling, Do you know who I am? This is Ava Gardner!

Ava Gardner was born near Smithfield, North Carolina in a town named Grabton. She was one of seven children of a poor tobacco farmer. In spite of the poverty that the family experienced they remained close throughout her 44-year film career.

Ava Gardner’s big break came when her brother-in-law displayed her photograph in his New York photography studio. This led to an MGM screen test. She signed a movie deal in 1941. Ava’s sister Bappie went with her to Hollywood and managed her career. She became one of the greatest actresses in movie history.

Soon after arriving in Hollywood Ava married Mickey Rooney. It lasted a year and a week. She would later marry Artie Shaw one of the great bandleaders of that era. She later married the love of her life, singer, Frank Sinatra. This marriage lasted for 5 years and then failed. Frank was extremely jealous.

One night Frank became so jealous that he threatened to commit suicide. She didn’t believe him until she heard a gun shot from the bedroom. Fortunately, Frank just shot the pillow and the mattress.

Some of Ava’s most notable films were: “Show Boat”, “Mogambo” with Grace Kelly and Clark Gable. She was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in this film. She also starred with Humphrey Bogart in “The Barefoot Contessa”. She starred in “The Night of the Iguana” with Richard Burton and Deborah Kerr. Several critics considered this film to be Ava’s last great film.

Ava Gardner retained her star status for many years to come even though she didn’t make anymore-great movies. She moved to Madrid, Spain at the age of 33, where she had relationships with movie stars and bullfighters for 8 years. She then moved to London, England for 26 years before she died of pneumonia in 1990. Ava’s autobiography was released after her death and became a New York Times Bestseller. She was extremely close to billionaire Howard Hughes. She is buried in Sunset Memorial Park, Highway 70, in Smithfield, North Carolina next to her beloved parents, Jonas and Mary Elizabeth Gardner.

I would often tell Ms. Creech that I wanted to meet her famous Aunt. I knew that Ms. Creech was Ava’s favorite niece. At the time Ava was 54 years old and still very much in demand. Ms. Creech was one of the nicest people that I had ever met.

Ava Gardner visited her family often, but I never received an invitation to meet her. I often wonder what a difference I could have made in the final chapter of her life, considering my friendship with the great movie director and writer, Spike Lee. If we had become friends the final paragraph in her eulogy would have read something like this:

“THE LEGENDARY AVA GARDNER PASSED ON JANUARY 25, 1990 IN LONDON, ENGLAND. SHE IS REMEMBERED MOST FOR HER OSCAR WINNING PERFORMANCE IN THE SPIKE LEE FILM, SHE’S ALREADY HAD IT!

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles at www.greggriffin.com